February 17, 2022
Māori education authority bottom line for 5 percent
Groups involved in Māori immersion education are refusing to back a revamp of the sector which does not include a Māori education authority.
The groups have turned down an invitation to join Te Pae Roa, the group convened by Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis to advise on the reform.
Raniera Proctor from Te Matakahuki, a collective of the lead kōhanga, kura kaupapa and wananga bodies, says they’re upset the cabinet paper characterised them as Māori medium rather than Māori immersion centres, which are distinct from bilingual units in mainstream schools.
He says the minister’s refusal to contemplate an independent statutory authority was the last straw.
“The minister says that we’re only 5 per cent of the sector, and he needs his focus to be across the whole board, 100 per cent. We say that there are reasons why we are only 5 per cent, The ministry doesn’t promote our pathway, the doesn’t speak on the achievement of kōhanga reo, kura kaupapa and the wānanga, and so there are systematic issues that are at play. We thought that the authority would be a great place to start the conversation to break down the system and start getting some real investment,” Mr Proctor says.
Raniera Proctor says the reform could be a choice between continuing down the path of assimilation or enabling by Māori for Māori solutions.